THE PEOPLE WE MEET
Archaeologists seldom know the names of the people whose lives they study. But every so often, they have the chance to encounter people of the past and learn their names, even as they uncover information about their daily habits and their place in society. In this issue, you, too, will have that rare opportunity to meet the people behind the archaeological record. In “The Ugarit Archives,” you’ll get to know Urtenu, a Bronze Age merchant who worked from home long before it once again became popular or necessary. In his modest suburban house in the ancient city of Ugarit on the Syrian coast, Urtenu maintained a library filled with more than 600 tablets that chronicle his financial dealings and efforts at diplomacy with Hittite kings and Egyptian pharaohs. These potentates’ names,…